


A plague upon innocence

by EmpressdarlingSweetling



Category: A Plague Tale: Innocence (Video Game), Marianne (TV 2019)
Genre: F/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-02-02
Updated: 2020-02-02
Packaged: 2021-02-28 01:55:34
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death, Rape/Non-Con
Chapters: 1
Words: 4,001
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22525894
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/EmpressdarlingSweetling/pseuds/EmpressdarlingSweetling
Summary: A crossover between a plague tale innocence and Marianne. Amicia is haunted by a woman who wants her power, what will she do to survive.
Relationships: Emma/Nicholas, Melie/Amicia de Rune, Nicholas/Amicia de Rune
Comments: 2
Kudos: 7





	A plague upon innocence

**Author's Note:**

> A crossover between a plague tale innocence and Marianne. I enjoyed both. A reincarnation au that I hope brings the horror to both.

The scratching is loud, incessant, sounding like nails against dried wood....or teeth ...a thousand of them chewing at the wood trying to gain entry through the door. Amicia shrinks in her small corner, clutching the string of her slingshot. She knows that the meager weapon is useless against the army of rats. The understanding twists her gut into knots. The scratching grows louder, and she can feel it in her bones. “Amicia De Rune!” A cackling voice cries out, “Amicia! Open the door and let me in!” “Why?” She screams in fear, loudly to be heard over the resonant scratching. She begins to feel like the rats are clawing at her insides. “What do you want?” And helplessness slips into her voice. Suddenly, oily black hands grip her arms, holding in her place. She barely could contain a scream to escape. The door opens with an ominous creak that sends chills down her spine, and her heart races. A figure moves in the darkness, a woman in ragged clothing. “Amicia, I want you!” The voice like bones on dried paper, stirring with dead things.

She tries to squeeze her eyes shut, but the fingers dig into her eyes and force them open. “Amicia,” There is a note of viciousness, “You’re mine!!” And the woman rushes towards her in a blur of grey and animosity, and reeking of evil. The scream releases from her throat filled with terror, and then..she wakes up. 

She raises her head, suddenly feeling the warmth of the classroom, mixed with the odd smell of youngsters. Gasping for breath, she swallows mouthfuls of air. “Amicia, are you alright?” Her lecturer looks at her with concern on her face. She shakes her head and takes a deep breath. “Yes, I am well. Thank you.” Hoping no one notices the tremor of her lips, and the sheen of sweat glistening on her brow. The teacher Mrs. Bisset gave her a sympathetic look before asking the special guest to resume her lecture, “Please continue, Mrs Larsimon.” The special guest author, Emma Larsimon. The bestselling author of the famous Lizzie Larck books.” Her recognizable face gives the students present a friendly smile that isn’t quite reflected in her eyes. “So I was saying Lizzie Larck books were an artistic expression of the horrible dreams I endured as a child. And I think horror represents our darkest fears. I dealt with mine by writing them down.” Amicia watches her talking, and there is something off about her behavior. And she realizes, it is the marked absence of love, for her work. How odd for an author to not display a love for her work. 

Amicia rubs her eyes, struggling to focus, as she feels her mind slipping from the lecture. “And does anyone have any questions,?” The teacher asks. From the corner of the eyes, she catches the few excited budding writers in the class raise their hands. The teacher picked Melie, and the red-haired girl rises from her seat, a huge smile brightening her face.

“Rumors are that it was based on a true story. And Marianne was bought to life and killed your Mom!”

Amicia releases a sigh, noting the wave of mild anger rushing through the author’s face. “All fake rumors!” She said dismissively with a forced chuckle, and a frown darkens her lips, “Marianne is just a scary story from Elden, nothing more!” A strange shadow passes over her features, “Anything else?” Searching the room. A student asks about her writing process, another asked her to talk about her next book. It passes her in a blur, and soon the bell rings.

Amicia tucks her hair behind her ears and stands up to leave the class. “Amicia,” The teacher stops her on her way out, “Emma would like a word with you.” Amicia turns to her lecturer, and catches Emma looking at her curiously. Studying her face, up close, she can discern the dark splotches under her eyes and the weariness that cannot be disguised with makeup. Emma nods to the teacher, who quickly ducks out of the room. Swallowing hard, she stares at her expectably, the troubled dream knawing at the back of her mind. “How are you doing? Good.” Emma is nervous, something about the girl ‘Amicia’, she is called, makes her body experience odd unease. 

Emma is also slightly amused at the almost innocent air about her. “You looked like you had a nightmare. Was it bad?” Amicia feels the heat rise to her cheeks, “I did not..it was nothing.” Feeling incredibly self-conscious. She tries to brush it off, feeling a wave of embarrassment. “Do you see her?” Emma decides to go to her default setting, bluntness. Amicia is startled. “Who?” “Marianne!” Emma whispers, moving close to her, but nothing betrays the sliver of fear she feels.

Amicia turns away, suddenly afraid, and turns to the window. Emma follows her line of sight, and catches the dark shadow of the great chateau, a majestic fortress/castle in the distance, seemingly rising from the sea. "I don’t know who Marianne is.. " she said quietly. "You wrote a story about her," Emma reminds her, recalling with a shiver the horror story she had read that echoed with a chilling familiarity, as one of the entries of the contest. “No, It wasnt..” She starts, the redness of her cheeks spreading. “I didn’t take her from your books.” Normally so assured, Amicia stutters over her words. “So the bigger fear rather than a demon witch is copyright infringement,” Emma jokes with a small smile. “Where did you meet Marianne? Amicia.” The question is repeated in a somber tone. Amicia swallows hard before turning a trembling finger to the castle. “There!”

“We were exploring the old castle," she said in a subdued voice, “It was cold, we entered through a broken window..”

**Flashback**

“Come on, Amicia!” Melie called out to her, head poking from the small window she managed to slide in, “Help her, Arthur!” Amicia releases a sigh and eyes the uncertain stack of boxes, which were to give her a boost. She didn’t want to spend the night in a dark damp dirty castle. Her stomach twisted in a knot. Overhead dark clouds roll over the castle, almost obscuring the highest points. Beside her the waves lash against the ground, raising the smell of salt. “Go on, Amicia!” And he turned his torch upwards so she can see the cheery smile on his face. He wasn’t scared. Amicia released an annoying sigh, and gingerly climbed the boxes. Bracing herself agains the wall fro the final step, she is momentarily stunned by the feel of the wet castle rock walls. It feels cold and slippery under her fingertips. “Need help!” Arthur calls, and shines his torch upwards. Amicia raises her eyes, and a woman appeared over Melie’s shoulder. It was a brief flash but she caught the odd brown grainy bag over her eyes, but her smile filled with rotten teeth edged by graying, purplish torn lips was clearly visible.

Amicia bites down on the scream. Melie calls her name again, and she brushes off the sight. It was probably a trick of light. Reaching forward, her friend helped her through the window, and she winced at the smell of septic cleaning products that hangs in the air. Arthur followed behind them, she almost jumps on hearing his feet hit the floor. The castle is eerie at night, and blanketed in darkness. Amicia followed the sound of Melie’s footsteps.

“Why are we here?” “Hold on!” Emma interrupts, “I don’t want to be know more than necessary..incase it’s a crime you know!” She leans closer, her eyes dark with a strange sort of interest, “What did you see? Amicia!” “I heard rats!” She blurts out, her lower lip trembling, “scurrying behind the walls, under the floors, everywhere…” “Rats!” Confusion flares on her face, it didn’t seem like Marianne’s behavior. “And there was this lady.” Tears gather at the corner of her eyes. “We were walking, Melie wanted…to find some topic for her essay!” Her mind flashes to the fight with her friend. The flashlight barely provided enough light, and the moonlight pouring from the windows lit up the rooms in a misty silver, barely affecting the darkness.

Her nightmares were seeping into her mind again, the incessant sounds of rats clawing at the walls accompanied by the desperate weeping of a woman. “Melie, why are we here!” Unable to keep the anger from her voice, “what do you want to steal?” Melie turned to glare at her, “I didn’t come to steal,” she snapped, “I wanted some inspiration for my essay.” “Why did we have to come at night for some stupid essay!”

Emma’s brow wrinkles in thought, “Melie! Is she the one…” Amicia shakes her head, “She was cleared of all charges, and she doesn’t know how what happened.” “What did happen?” Emma questions, glancing at her watch, finding urgency causing tension to tighten every muscle. “We explored the rooms, the first floor,” Her breathing grows heavy, her heart hammers in her chest, “ I entered this…odd room.”

The room was a refurnished antique bedroom, she accidentally entered after Melie walked away from her, scurrying off into the darkness, thinking the torture chamber was located somewhere in the left rooms. beautiful antique bed is in the middle with an ornate skeleton, and silken sheets, decorated in the way of antique. The last time she was here, guests were even allowed to lay in it. The moonlight seeping from the window from above gave the room a ghostly aura.

Suddenly feeling a wave of tiredness, Amicia walked over to the bed, and sat down. Taking a deep breath of fresh air, she uttered a sigh and fell backwards. Her eyes stared upwards of the silken canopy top bathed in darkness. The moon shifted in the sky and the moonlight added a touch of silver to the top. It was maybe her imagination, but is something moving in the shadows. She squinted, and it looked like fruits emerged from the darkness. But that was so odd. Blinking a few times, she moved to her elbows and tried to move her face closer. Yes, there were definitely oddly shaped fruits. Amicia quickly climbed to her feet on the bed, ignoring the potential of her dirty shoes destroying the bedspread, and reached upwards, plucked one of the fruits, morbid curiosity driving her action. 

She tugged at the red thread holding the cloth together, and a scream of terror nearly ripped from her throat, but she clamped down on it with both palms. Small teeth lay amongst hair, and was there ash, and burnt flesh. Her mind screamed, what the hell was this! She raised her eyes, and stared at the other bulb. Her breath comes in short spurts, and she struggles over a choking sensation in her chest. Her thoughts are muddled with questions because what is before her makes no sense. A creak resounded in the room, and Amicia barely had time to move before the canopy smothered her. This time, Amicia let loose a scream, and struggled to escape, scratching vainly against the silken trap. It felt like it was smothering her, and trying to squash her into the bed. “Melie,” She tried to call for help. Then stopped because she felt a presence beside her. Breathing heavily, her breath somehow hotter in the icy night air constricted in the small space. Amicia forced her eyes open and turned to her left.

Amicia forced her eyes open and turned to her left. It was too dark, but the shape next to her resembled something or someone. A whiff of hot air and a heavy pressure moves on top of her. Hands gripped her shoulders, scalding like ice against her skin with the texture of rotting flesh. The smell of burnt ash fills her lungs, smothering a scream. Her eyes adapted to the darkness caught a glimpse of white eyeballs, and stringy hair, set in a face that seemed to melt like wax. With a mighty heave, she tossed the canopy off her and sucked in a lungful of air.

  
A crash, and Amicia turned her neck to see a figure darting from the open doorway. “Who is it?” She called, forcing her limbs to move. She rushed through the open doorway, as her skin erupted to goosebumps, and the foul smell thickened in her chest and followed the figure in the shadows. There, it was at the top of the stairs. Driven by adrenalin and the fear tightening every coil of her body, she rushed forward and into the figure. A crash, and the body toppled down the stairs in heavy rhythmic thuds. Resonating in the small room. Arthur groaned in pain, and Melie rushed out to help him. "Arthur, " the fog cleared from her mind, and it dawned on Amicia that she had shoved Arthur down the stairs. Horror gripped her followed immediately by shame. She rushed to help him up. 

"You pushed your friend down the stairs!" Emma asks, raising an eyebrow, "Wow, hardcore! What did the guy do to you!" Amicia releases a sigh, "I didn't mean to.. I just thought I saw ..."

"A witch!" Emma finishes, a dry snicker, and Amicia thinks she sees traces of fear. "Tha-is not possible!" She mutters, trying to convince herself. "Yes, it is. It was probably Marianne playing tricks on you!" Emma pushed her hair behind her ear, and frowns. Amicia swallows, her throat dry, and her mind in turmoil, and her nerves flutter with unsteady rhythm beneath her skin. 

"Who is Marrianne? She is just a character from your book!" Amicia wants it to be true, like she wanted the rats to be imaginary. "She is a witch from my books who tormented me in my hometown of Elden. I called her one day during a ritual with my friends for a bad dream.. that's how it started ...how it all started." Came the forcefull words on the brink of madness. Emma couldn't pretend, not anymore. "She sent me messages in my dreams.. she tormented me in my dreams. I had to run away to another country. Then when I returned to my hometown, she tried to take me over-"

"I don't believe you!" Amicia trips over her words, " There are no such things of witches. Maybe it was a mistake. It was late at night !!" Her mind tied to come up with excuses. "How many times did you see her?' Emma said in a controlled voice to avoid frightening the girl. She swallows and thinks back to the night chasing after Melie, and recalls feeling the overbearing presence of sinister eyes upon her. It comes to her like the drip of a faucet. Someone was watching her as Milie and she were fighting, A shadow of a woman against the window, under the stairs. The dark shadowy figure that nearly suffocated her. "She shut her eyes close, "It was only a shadow." She murmurs under her breath. The women that smell of ashes and looked of melted butter. "It is impossible!! The odd tokens from the ceiling."

"Those are witches' tokens," Emma said matter a factly, her face had an expression of pity, she didn't need to know what Emma was talking about. "Hair, and teeth, right? That's the usual recipe!" Fingers rub against each other, remembering the texture of leathery skin and roughness of teeth. Fear washes over her face before she toughens up with a sort of fierceness. "Emma, I believe you!" said softly, "Please help me!"

Amesia is still reeling after what Emma had explained to her, telling her the sordid details of what had happened and as such, it made her ill. She walked out of the classroom and went with her books under her arm. And started to make her way out of the College, when she ran into Melie. "Can you believe we actually had the famous author at our college!" Melie said excitedly. "Yeah, same!" Amicia said distractedly, " It was wonderful." Her mind is focused on deciding what to do when she saw her again, what could they even do.

"Are you coming to visit my brother in the hospital?" Millie's excitement faded as she put her hand on Amicia's shoulder. That broke Amicia from her reverie, "How is he?" "

Doing better after you pushed him down the stairs," Voice is level but there is an undercurrent of anger. "Melie!" Amicia started, trying to figure out a way to apologize, stumbling over her words to present an explanation before deciding on the truth. "It was an accident...I really don't know what came over me. I thought he was a ghost."

"Yes, you said so," Millie frowns. They pass the library, and she is hit with an idea. "I promise I will visit with him later, please go on without me!"

She finds herself in the library going through books, she doesn't know why, but she's suddenly drawn to a history book on medieval France, going through details about the rat plague during the English invasion. So familiar. But was it somehow connected to her dreams? A door slammed and she jumps, and the afternoon seems darker. Where did that crash come from suddenly?

"Find anything interesting?" A man's voice called. She jumped. There standing a few feet away is Nicholas, a fellow student at the university. She looked at him with surprise. Usually, he never said a word to her except when he suddenly kissed her at the Christmas party. "Amicia," A smile lifts his lips. There was something odd and twisted about it. " You seemed to be quite interested in French history, " He tilts his head at the book in her hands. She glances down and then, looks at him. "Yes," She said, "I just suddenly became interested in our country's culture. I thought I would like to know mow. He smiles a soft slow smile, "Enlightenment comes in many forms not just books."

He is a handsome man with dark blond hair and sharp eyes that seemed old in a way. He steps closer to her. "Amicia," He says quietly, "Have you heard of reincarnation?" She blinks looking confused for a second. "That is an odd topic to discuss," She said softly, " Well yes I mean...It's not really scientific and there's really hardly any proof." The smile deepens to an almost sinister quality. "And what if I told you that we are living proof?"

She blinks, "What are you talking about?" Confusion colors her gaze. "By any chance have you been dreaming of rats. Swarms of those little vicious creatures?" He asks casually. Her eyes widen. "What are you talking about Nicholas?' Icy fear descends her spine, chilling her to the bone. He reaches forward grips her chin and pulls her into a sharp kiss. Her eyes widen and her breath catches in her throat. "Nicholas," She sputters as she pushes him away. "What are you-" And when she looked down, there is a cold barrel of a gun sticking into her waist. When Nicholas speaks now, it is almost with a mad quality. "Come with me, Amicia De Rune," He said with a sinister, harsh edge, "I have something I want to show you."

He keeps his arm around her as if she is his girlfriend, keeping her close. Together they made the long frightening walk from this college to the shadow of the Castle where the dark Marianne resided. Her heart hammering in her throat every time and every so often she wanted to scream and beg someone to help her but the cold barrel of the gun digging into her waist prevented her, of course.

A few of people she knew from class gave her odd looks but most of them were too busy with their heads buried in their phones to notice their awkward gait. Once again, she blames social media for her problems. Once they are in the shadows, he leads her down a secret tunnel at the corner of the castle, the air is dank and cold. The cold biting into her flesh all the way to her bones. And the odd smell made her cough uncomfortably. Finally, they reached a room which is undoubtedly looked like a prayer mass was being arranged with candles. He pushes her down into an old chair, that looks kind of new, and quickly secured her hands. The ropes dig into her flesh. "Nicholas. what are you doing. Please tell me." She pleads. Feeling the cold dank air worming its way down her throat and nearly choking her off.

"Let me see if I can make this easy! What exactly do you dream about?" He grips her wrists and digs his fingernails into her skin.

"What are you talking about?" Lips trembling, " I don't know what you're referring to?

"I am asking you about your dreams?" He said forcefully, his gaze burning through her. "What do you think they mean?"

She looks at him confused, "My dreams?"

"You dream about rats don't you? The creatures that tend to destroy you. Well, let me tell you what those dreams mean. I dream about them too. There was a rat plague once upon a time in the country. They were controlled by you." Wrapping a hand around her delicate neck.

"Me...me," she stutters, shrinking under his intense gaze. " What are you talking about?" Struggling hard to control her fear, she can't do much being swamped by terror. 

"Once upon a time your name was Amicia de Rune and you were part of the family that controls the rat plague which you spread across France," He straightens his back, and his cold glare is unforgiving. Raising his hands as if address a court in the so-called darkest area.

"I was an inquisitor in the past life," Pride enters his voice, "I was tasked with saving the people and getting the plague under control. But I failed and your family destroyed me. Now I find you making a new attempt to destroy this fair country again."

Amicia stares at him as if he has lost his mind, " What are you talking about?..destroy? Nicolas. You are not making any sense."

"My name is Lord Nicholas," he corrected angrily, "And I am a noble inquisitor and I am here to end your evil witches line and to stop you from bringing back the plague...and the evil witch Marianne."

Amicia retorts with anger now, " I have no intention of bringing back the plague, or Marianne."

"I know you are lying. You are the evil woman in collusion with the witch. No, I will not be blind to your evil nature. I will restore the Prima _Macula_ to its rightful owner!"

"Who is the rightful owner? " Amicia demands, "You don't even know."

"Yes, I do. She came to me in a dream...In a figure wearing a mask. She warned me about you. She told me that you will bring death and destruction."

Amicia lets out a cry, "She's lying. That's not true I saw her too. She's a monster." She struggles to free herself from the bounds, but the harder she tugs, the rope digs further into her flesh and is capable of breaking her bones.

"Stop. Calm down Mon Cherie!." Nicholas leans closer, fingers lightly stroke her chin. "I am just completing my duty as the Inquisitor. I promise you that your end will come swiftly and I will show you more mercy," he grips her chin sharply and then utters, " so beautiful and forces a bruising hard kiss on her. Amicia keeps her eyes open, and sees in the outline of the darkness, a cloaked figure in old clothes emanating a foul, evil presence. She gasps, and it only allows Nicholas to laugh quietly and viciously against her mouth. A dark buried part of him that relished revenge savored the taste of her fear.


End file.
